Visma | Lease a Bike and Vingegaard already bracing for hectic day after near-rest day in Catalonia

Visma | Lease a Bike did not bring a true sprinter to this week’s Volta a Catalunya, so there was no need for the yellow-and-black squad to get involved in the fight for the stage win on day two. Sports director Marc Reef therefore described it as “a relatively quiet day” through Catalonia.

The sprint teams still kept the pace high, but tucked in behind, Visma | Lease a Bike never really ran into trouble. Reef even spoke of an opportunity to save energy while the peloton spent a long stretch chasing a five-man breakaway.

"It was important to be at the front in the final, because the last 27 kilometres were mainly downhill," Reef said. "We wanted to stay out of trouble and the guys did a brilliant job. Ultimately, we entered the final three kilometres in a good way."

That made it two solid days in Catalonia for Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike, with just one more flatter finish still to come before the race heads into four days that are expected to be dominated by climbing and descending. Yet, according to Reef, stage 3 will certainly not be a day to relax.

The Dutch sports director sees “two tough climbs” in the opening part of the stage, but believes the flat finale could still turn into the more dangerous part of the day. “We need to stay alert if the wind starts to play a role in the finale,” he said.

Time gaps may open up there, although in crosswind conditions the bigger question is often not who wins the race, but who loses it. So far, only Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5 have managed to gain a few seconds, after finishing second and third on Monday.